Long-Term Outcomes of Esophageal Squamous Neoplasia with Muscularis Mucosa Involvement after Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection.

Ambiguity exists over treatment and surveillance strategies after endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for esophageal squamous cell neoplasia (ESCN) with unfavorable histologic features. This study investigated the long-term outcomes of ESD in high-risk ESCN patients. We retrospectively included early ESCN patients treated with ESD at two medical centers in Taiwan between August 2010 and December 2023. Demographic, endoscopic and pathological data were collected. Among 146 patients (mean age 59.17 years) with 183 lesions, 73 (50%) had a history of head and neck cancer (HNC). En bloc and R0 resections were achieved in 100% and 95.6% of the lesions, respectively. The 5-year overall survival (OS), disease-specific survival (DSS) and local recurrence rates were 42.7%, 94.7% and 11%. R0 resections were significantly associated with recurrence in a univariate analysis (HR: 0.19, 95% CI: 0.06-0.66, p = 0.008). Alcohol abstinence was independently associated with lower recurrence (HR: 0.34, 95% CI: 0.16-0.73, p = 0.006). Patients with pT1a-MM (muscularis mucosa invasion) had comparable OS (p = 0.82), DSS (p = 0.617) and recurrence (p = 0.63) rates to those with pT1a-EP/LPM (epithelium/lamina propria invasion). The long-term outcomes of ESCN patients after ESD for expanded indications were satisfactory. ESD could be considered in selected ESCN patients involving the muscularis mucosa, notably among high-risk HNC patients.

Magnifying Endoscopy With Narrow Band Imaging for Graft Failure and Disease Recurrence in Patients With Crohn Disease After Intestinal Transplantation: 2 Case Reports.

Crohn disease (CD) is one of the most common causes of short bowel syndrome and intestinal failure. Intestinal transplantation (IT) is sometimes needed for patients with CD who develop intestinal failure after multiple intestinal resections resulting from CD-related complications, such as uncontrollable bleeding and penetrating diseases. However, there have been few case reports concerning the endoscopic surveillance of patients with CD after IT. In this article, we present 2 patients with CD who underwent IT because of short bowel syndrome with intestinal failure. We administered posttransplantation immunosuppressants and conducted regular follow-up magnifying endoscopy with narrow-band imaging (ME-NBI). Both cases demonstrated favorable outcomes after surveillance with ME-NBI. In this report, we outline our post-IT follow-up strategies applying the VENCH scoring system, which is based on endoscopic features using ME-NBI to predict graft rejection. Our approach could effectively distinguish between acute cellular rejection and non-rejection, particularly disease recurrence of underlying CD. This study was approved by the institutional review board of Far Eastern Memorial Hospital (FEMH-105023-F). The patients provided written informed consent for publication.

Precise mapping of hilar cholangiocarcinoma with a skip lesion by SpyGlass cholangioscopy: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Cholangiocarcinoma (CC) is a very aggressive cancer with a poor prognosis. As surgery is the only curative therapy, preoperative evaluation of the tumor extent is essential for surgical planning. Although high-quality image modalities such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging have been used extensively in preoperative evaluation, the accuracy is low. To obtain precise localization of tumor spread arising from the hilar region preoperatively, the development of an acceptable imaging modality is still an unmet need. CASE SUMMARY: A 52-year-old female presented to our emergency department with jaundice, abdominal pain, and fever. Initially, she was treated for cholangitis. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography with the cholangiogram showed long segment filling defect in the common hepatic duct with dilatation of bilateral intrahepatic ducts. Transpapillary biopsy was performed, and the pathology suggested intraductal papillary neoplasm with high-grade dysplasia. After treatment of cholangitis, contrasted-enhanced computed tomography revealed a hilar lesion with undetermined Bismuth-Corlette classification. SpyGlass cholangioscopy showed that the lesion involved the confluence of the common hepatic duct with one skip lesion in the posterior branch of the right intrahepatic duct, which was not detected by previous image modalities. The surgical plan was modified from extended left hepatectomy to extended right hepatectomy. The final diagnosis was hilar CC, pT2aN0M0. The patient has remained disease-free for more than 3 years. CONCLUSION: SpyGlass cholangioscopy may have a role in precision localization of hilar CC to provide surgeons with more information before the operation.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on inflammatory bowel disease care in Taiwan: A multicenter study.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had a great impact on healthcare system and patients. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the perceptions of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). METHODS: This prospective multicenter study was conducted between July 2021 and December 2021. Patients with IBD answered a structured questionnaire, and their degree of anxiety was assessed using a visual analogue scale (VAS) before and after reading educational materials. RESULTS: A total of 225 (47.67%) patients with Crohn's disease, 244 (51.69%) with ulcerative colitis and 3 (0.64%) with indeterminate colitis were enrolled. Common concerns were adverse events from vaccination (20.34%), and higher risks of developing severe COVID-19 (19.28%) and COVID-19 infection (16.31%) than the general population. Medications deemed by the patients to increase the risk of COVID-19 were immunomodulators (16.10%), anti-tumor necrosis factor-α antagonists (9.96%), and corticosteroids (9.32%). Thirty-five (7.42%) patients self-discontinued IBD medication, of whom 12 (34.28%) had worse symptoms. Older age (>50 years) (OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.01-1.19, p = 0.03), IBD-related complications (OR 1.16, 95% CI 1.04-1.28, p = 0.01), education status below senior high school (OR 1.22, 95% CI 1.08-1.37, p = 0.001), and residing in north-central Taiwan (OR 1.21, 95% CI 1.10-1.34, p < 0.001) were associated with more anxiety. None of the enrolled patients contracted COVID-19. The anxiety VAS score (mean ± SD) improved after reading the educational materials (3.84 ± 2.33 vs. 2.81 ± 1.96, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The medical behavior of IBD patients was influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, and their anxiety could be mitigated after education.

Endoscopic subserosal dissection for a GI stromal tumor.

Video 1Endoscopic subserosal dissection was carried out to remove the subepithelial tumors.

Real-World Evidence of Effectiveness and Safety of Vedolizumab for Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Taiwan: A Prospective Nationwide Registry (VIOLET) Study.

BACKGROUND: This nationwide prospective registry study investigated the real-world effectiveness, safety, and persistence of vedolizumab (VDZ) in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients in Taiwan. Disease relapse rates after VDZ discontinuation due to reimbursement restriction were assessed. METHODS: Data were collected prospectively (January 2018 to May 2020) from the Taiwan Society of IBD registry. RESULTS: Overall, 274 patients (147 ulcerative colitis [UC] patients, 127 Crohn's disease [CD] patients) were included. Among them, 70.7% with UC and 50.4% with CD were biologic-naïve. At 1 year, 76.0%, 58.0%, 35.0%, and 62.2% of UC patients and 57.1%, 71.4%, 33.3%, and 30.0% of CD patients achieved clinical response, clinical remission, steroid-free remission, and mucosal healing, respectively. All patients underwent hepatitis B and tuberculosis screening before initiating biologics, and prophylaxis was recommended when necessary. One hepatitis B carrier, without antiviral prophylaxis due to economic barriers, had hepatitis B reactivation during steroid tapering and increasing azathioprine dosage, which was controlled with an antiviral agent. No tuberculosis reactivation was noted. At 12 months, non-reimbursement-related treatment persistence rates were 94.0% and 82.5% in UC and CD patients, respectively. Moreover, 75.3% of IBD patients discontinued VDZ due to mandatory drug holiday. Relapse rates after VDZ discontinuation at 6 and 12 months were 36.7% and 64.3% in CD patients and 42.9% and 52.4% in UC patients, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The findings demonstrated VDZ effectiveness in IBD patients in Taiwan, with high treatment persistence rates and favorable safety profiles. A substantial IBD relapse rate was observed in patients who had mandatory drug holiday.

Screening and surveillance of esophageal cancer by magnifying endoscopy with narrow band imaging improves the survival of hypopharyngeal cancer patients.

Introduction: Patients with head and neck cancer may develop a second primary neoplasm (SPN) of the esophagus due to field cancerization. This study investigated the impacts of esophageal cancer screening using magnifying endoscopy with narrow-band imaging (ME-NBI) on the outcomes of hypopharyngeal cancer patients. Methods: Patients with hypopharyngeal cancer diagnosed from 2008 to 2021 in a tertiary hospital were reviewed retrospectively. Screening and surveillance using ME-NBI examination of the esophagus were divided into three patterns: (1) ME-NBI never performed or more than 6 months after diagnosis of index primary hypopharyngeal cancer, (2) ME-NBI within 6 months only, and (3) ME-NBI within 6 months and regular surveillance. Results: A total of 261 were reviewed and 21 (8%) patients were in stage I, 20 (8%) in stage II, 27 (10%) in stage III, 116 (44%) in stage IVA, 65 (25%) in stage IVB, and 12 (5%) in stage IVC. Sixty-seven (26%) patients had SPN (50 esophagus, 10 oral cavity, 3 oropharynx, 2 nasopharynx, 1 larynx and 1 lung). Among esophageal SPN, 35 (70%) and 15 (30%) patients developed synchronous and metachronous neoplasia, respectively. In multivariate Cox regression analysis, advanced stages III and IV (compared with stages I and II, HR: 1.86, 1.18-2.95, p=0.008), ME-NBI examination of the esophagus received within 6 months and regular surveillance (HR: 0.53, 0.36-0.78, p=0.001) were independent factors affecting the overall survival of patients with hypopharyngeal cancer. Discussion: Our findings demonstrated that screening and surveillance of esophageal SPN by ME-NBI improves the survival of patients with hypopharyngeal cancer.

Liver collision tumor of primary hepatocellular carcinoma and neuroendocrine carcinoma: A rare case report.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) can occasionally develop with other non-HCC cell types, either in a combined type or collision type. A collision tumor is defined as two histopathologically distinct tumors of the same organ lacking a clear transition zone. Hepatic collision tumors are rare. Among them, "hepatocellular carcinoma-hepatic neuroendocrine carcinoma" (HCC-NEC) collision tumors are especially rare and information about them is rarely published. CASE SUMMARY: A 48-year-old man with typical findings of HCC underwent consecutive therapies, including radiofrequency ablation and embolization prior to resection. Diagnosis of the HCC-NEC collision tumor in the right liver and another HCC in the left liver was established following surgical resection. The patient displayed NEC metastasis following resection and succumbed to septicemia after 2 more rounds of chemotherapy. To our knowledge, this is the 25th reported case of mixed HCC-NEC tumor. The rarity of HCC-NEC collision tumors and the absence of diagnostic criteria make it difficult to differentiate this condition from simple liver tumors, especially in patients with chronic liver disease. CONCLUSION: Our case highlights the difficulty in accurately diagnosing HCC-NEC in the absence of histological evidence. The prognosis is poor for this condition, although ultrasound-guided liver biopsy can be helpful to establish a prompt diagnosis. Further accumulation of such cases could help establish an accurate diagnosis earlier. Early discovery of NEC may allow for better treatment strategies and better prognoses.

Advances in Image-Guided Radiotherapy in the Treatment of Oral Cavity Cancer.

Image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) is an advanced auxiliary radiotherapy technique. During cancer treatment, patients with oral cavity cancer (OCC) experience not only disease but also adverse effects due to RT. IGRT provides the relevant advantages of RT by precisely delivering tumoricidal doses via real-time knowledge of the target volume location and achieves maximal tumor control with minimal complications as recommended for cancer treatment. Additionally, studies have shown that IGRT can improve clinical outcomes in terms of not only treatment side effects but also survival benefits for cancer patients. IGRT can be performed alongside various imaging methods, including computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, and at different times during the radiotherapy regimen. This article reviews the literature to discuss the effects and importance of IGRT for patients with OCC, examines the rationale underlying the advantages of IGRT, discusses the limitations of IGRT with respect to different techniques, and summarizes the strategies and future prospects of IGRT in the treatment of OCC.

Pancreatic Heterotopia in the Small Bowel: A Case Report and Literature Review.

ABSTRACT: Diagnosing pancreatic heterotopia (PH) is challenging, because it is a rare congenital anomaly. We report the case of a 66-year-old man who presented with ileus and jejunal PH diagnosed using single-balloon enteroscopy. Reviewing 178 cases of small intestinal PH in the literature showed that (1) PH mostly occurred at the duodenum (61.8%), followed by the jejunum (22.5%) and ileum (14.6%); (2) patients with ileal PH were younger (mean, 40.7 vs 54.6 years; P < 0.001), while those with jejunal PH were older (mean, 59.5 vs 51.7 years; P = 0.006); (3) most patients with jejunal PH were females, while those with duodenal or ileal PH were predominantly males (M:F = 0.8:1 vs 2.5:1; P = 0.003); (4) asymptomatic cases were rare (15.2% vs 83.4% in small and nonsmall bowel, respectively); (5) most patients with ileal PH presented with bleeding (61.5%), while the remaining had abdominal pain (42.8%); (6) emergent operation was performed in 11 cases (6.2%), mainly at the jejunum (12.5%) and Meckel's diverticulum (25%); and (7) Heinrich's classification may be inconclusive. Enteroscopy was performed in only 6 cases (3.4%), and earlier diagnosis and further minimally invasive procedures could have been achieved with enteroscopy.

Substance use and esophageal neuroendocrine neoplasm: A case-control study.

Esophageal neuroendocrine neoplasms (NEN) are extremely rare and little is known about their risk factors. To identify the potential risk factors, we evaluated whether the history of substance use, including alcohol, tobacco and areca nut consumption was associated with esophageal NEN. Forty-one esophageal NEN patients diagnosed between 2002 and 2019 from 17 hospital in Taiwan were enrolled as the cases. Controls were participants who received complete esophagogastroduodenoscopy in an endoscopic cohort and 123 eligible controls were matched to 41 cases (3:1) on age and gender. Alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking significantly increased the risk of esophageal NEN, with about a fourfold risk increase in alcohol drinkers as well as cigarette smokers. Moreover, use of cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption in combination demonstrated the highest risk of esophageal NEN with the risk increasing up to 20 times compared with non-users. Alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking significantly increase risk of esophageal NEN and both alcohol and cigarette users had the highest risk.

Endoscopic Screening for Second Primary Tumors of the Esophagus Among Head and Neck Cancer Patients.

Malignancies of the head and neck (HN) region and esophagus are among the most common cancers worldwide. Due to exposure to common carcinogens and the theory of field cancerization, HN cancer patients have a high risk of developing second primary tumors (SPTs). In our review of 28 studies with 51,454 HN cancer patients, the prevalence of SPTs was 12%. The HN area is the most common site of SPTs, followed by the lungs and esophagus, and 13% of HN cancer patients have been reported to have esophageal high-grade dysplasia or invasive carcinoma. The prognosis of HN cancer patients with concomitant esophageal SPTs is poor, and therefore identifying esophageal SPTs as early as possible is of paramount importance for risk stratification and to guide the treatment strategy. Image-enhanced endoscopy, especially using narrow-band imaging endoscopy and Lugol's chromoendoscopy, has been shown to improve the diagnostic performance in detecting esophageal neoplasms at an early stage. Moreover, the early detection and minimally invasive endoscopic treatment of early esophageal neoplasm has been shown to improve the prognosis. Well-designed prospective studies are warranted to establish appropriate treatment and surveillance programs for HN cancer patients with esophageal SPTs.

Randomized controlled trial of early endoscopy for upper gastrointestinal bleeding in acute coronary syndrome patients.

Acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients are not uncommon, particularly under dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT). The efficiency and safety of early endoscopy (EE) for UGIB in these patients needs to be elucidated. This multicenter randomized controlled trial randomized recent ACS patients presenting acute UGIB to non-EE and EE groups. All eligible patients received intravenous proton pump inhibitor therapy. Those in EE group underwent therapeutic endoscopy within 24 h after bleeding. The data regarding efficacy and safety of EE were analyzed. It was early terminated because the UGIB rate was lower than expected and interim analysis was done. In total, 43 patients were randomized to non-EE (21 patients) and EE (22 patients) groups. The failure rate of control hemorrhage (intention-to-treat [ITT] 4.55% vs. 23.81%, p < 0.001; per-protocol [PP] 0% vs. 4.55%, p = 0.058) and 3-day rebleeding rate (ITT 4.55% vs. 28.57%, p = 0.033; PP 0% vs. 21.05%, p = 0.027) were lower in EE than non-EE group. The mortality, minor and major complication rates were not different between two groups. Male patients were at higher risk of minor and major complications after EE with OR (95% CI) of 3.50 (1.15-10.63) and 4.25 (1.43-12.63), respectively. In multivariate analysis, EE was associated with lower needs for blood transfusion (HR 0.13, 95% CI 0.02-0.98). Among patients who discontinued DAPT during acute UGIB, a higher risk (OR 5.25, 95% CI 1.21-22.74) of coronary artery stent re-thrombosis within 6 months was noticed. EE for acute UGIB in recent ACS patients has higher rate of bleeding control, lower 3-day rebleeding rate and lower needs for blood transfusion, but more complications in male patients. Further enrollment is mandatory to avoid bias from small sample size (ClinicalTrial.gov Number NCT02618980, registration date 02/12/2015).

Meckel's Diverticulum Diagnosed by Balloon-Assisted Enteroscopy: A Multicenter Report from the Taiwan Association for the Study of Small Intestinal Diseases (TASSID).

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Patients with Meckel's diverticulum (MD) are difficult to preoperatively diagnose because of its endoscopic inaccessibility. Balloon-assisted enteroscopy (BAE) allows endoscopic access to the entire small intestine. The aim of the current study was to investigate patients with MD diagnosed by BAE in Taiwan. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective, multicenter study of patients with MD who were diagnosed by BAE in Taiwan. The clinical characteristics, endoscopic features, histopathological findings, treatment methods, and outcomes were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 55 patients with MD were enrolled (46 males and 9 females). The mean age at diagnosis was 34.1 years. Overt gastrointestinal bleeding (87.3%) was the primary indication for BAE, followed by abdominal pain (9.1%), suspected small bowel tumor (1.8%), and Crohn's disease follow-up (1.8%). The mean distance between the ileocecal valve and MD was 71.6 cm (regarding diagnostic yields: BAE-100%, capsule endoscopy-40%, Meckel's scan-35.7%, computed tomography-14.6%, small bowel series-12.5%, and angiography-11.1%; regarding endoscopic features of MD: a large ostium-89.1%, a small ostium-7.3%, and a polypoid mass-3.6%). Surgical treatment was performed in 76.4% patients, and conservative treatment was performed in 23.6% patients. The mean length of MD in 42 patients who underwent surgical resection was 5.2 cm (in 43 patients of MD with available histopathology: heterotopic gastric tissue, 42.4%, heterotopic gastric and pancreatic tissues, 7%; heterotopic pancreatic tissue, 4.7%; heterotopic colonic tissue, 2.3%; and a neuroendocrine tumor, 2.3%). CONCLUSIONS: The current study showed BAE is a very useful modality for detecting MD compared with other conventional modalities.

Case 296: Phlebosclerotic Colitis.

History A 55-year-old woman without systemic underlying disease, such as diabetes mellitus, inflammatory bowel disease, autoimmune disease, or chronic kidney disease, presented with generalized dull abdominal pain of 1-week duration. She had ingested herbal medicine for physical conditioning for several years. Laboratory findings, including biochemistry, electrolyte levels, and complete blood count, were all within normal limits, except for elevated serum C-reactive protein level (7.719 mg/dL; normal range, <1 mg/dL). The patient underwent initial evaluation with conventional abdominal radiography. She underwent subsequent evaluation with noncontrast CT of the abdomen and colonoscopy.

Hyperspectral Imaging Combined with Artificial Intelligence in the Early Detection of Esophageal Cancer.

This study uses hyperspectral imaging (HSI) and a deep learning diagnosis model that can identify the stage of esophageal cancer and mark the locations. This model simulates the spectrum data from the image using an algorithm developed in this study which is combined with deep learning for the classification and diagnosis of esophageal cancer using a single-shot multibox detector (SSD)-based identification system. Some 155 white-light endoscopic images and 153 narrow-band endoscopic images of esophageal cancer were used to evaluate the prediction model. The algorithm took 19 s to predict the results of 308 test images and the accuracy of the test results of the WLI and NBI esophageal cancer was 88 and 91%, respectively, when using the spectral data. Compared with RGB images, the accuracy of the WLI was 83% and the NBI was 86%. In this study, the accuracy of the WLI and NBI was increased by 5%, confirming that the prediction accuracy of the HSI detection method is significantly improved.

Case 296.

History A 55-year-old woman without systemic underlying disease, such as diabetes mellitus, inflammatory bowel disease, autoimmune disease, or chronic kidney disease, presented with generalized dull abdominal pain of 1-week duration. She had ingested herbal medicine for physical conditioning for several years. Laboratory findings, including biochemistry, electrolyte levels, and complete blood count, were all within normal limits, except for elevated serum C-reactive protein level (7.719 mg/dL; normal range,<1 mg/dL). The patient underwent initial evaluation with conventional abdominal radiography (Fig 1). She underwent subsequent evaluation with noncontrast CT of the abdomen (Figs 2, 3) and colonoscopy (Fig 4).